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Sarah Manning
Sarah Manning is the first clone introduced in Orphan Black. Once merely a rebellious punk on the run, hoping to take her daughter and foster brother with her, continual shocks to her identity changes Sarah's plans in life, leaving her reeling and wondering who she really is. Biography Early life Sarah began life in an English orphanage and was bounced between foster homes until she landed on the doorstep of Mrs. S, who adopted her and her foster brother Felix, when she was around 8. When Sarah was 14, Mrs. S uprooted them under suspicious circumstances and moved them to North America. Sarah steadfastly remained the English punk, a street smart stray with a reckless streak and a loyal heart. Likely drawn into a seedy life of conswoman-ship and drugs, she almost completely deserted her daughter Kira, chosing life with a violent drug dealer named Victor over a stable single life. She continually attemped to convince her foster mom to allow her to take Kira with her, but Mrs S was unwilling to subject the little girl to such an unsavory life. Sarah seemed unable to understand that a life with a drug dealing mother with no work skills or education, and a male prostitute uncle was not the little girls best option, putting her desire to have her child above the childs welfare. Tired of life with the clingy, abusive Vic, she left him and returned home to live with her foster brother Felix, but not before stealing a pack of cocaine from Vic. When she encountered her doppelganger pre-suicidal swan dive off of the Huxley Station train platform, she found herself literally holding her clone's bags and identification, suddenly presented with a unique opportunity to change her situation. Her choice at the train station sends her on a whirlwind of self-discovery and shocking revelations, she meets her clones and gradually begins to realize that selfishness is not the only option. Season 1 Arriving home on the train in hopes of reconciling with her daughter, Sarah encounters Elizabeth Childs, a woman who eerily looks just like her that jumps in front of the train to her death. Visibly distraught at first sight, Sarah slowly sees a golden opportunity. She takes Beth's purse and meets up with her foster brother, Felix, and informs him of her plan to leave the town with him and her daughter, Kira. Realizing that Beth has money she can use, and thinking that Beth is her twin sister, Sarah decides to take on her identity. She changes her hair, learns Beth's accent, movements and signature, among others, through all the resources she could gather in her apartment. Vic, still after the cocaine that Sarah stole from him, comes to town in search of her. With Felix's help, Sarah manages to elude Vic and in the process, convince everyone that she knows to believe that it was her who had committed suicide at the train station—allowing her to continue on with her facade as Beth Childs. Vic unexpectedly grieves for her, heartbroken and in denial. In desperation, Felix and Sarah try to go Mrs. S to tell her that Sarah is alive, not wanting Kira to think that her mother is dead. However, Mrs. S is still wary of Sarah and refuses to let her get custody of Kira. After several awkward, and sexual, encounters with Beth's boyfriend, Paul Dierden, Sarah finally manages to get a hold of Beth's money, but also finds out that things are more complicated than they seem as Beth Childs is a cop, currently suspended and under investigation for a civilian shooting. Sarah realizes this too late, and Felix has already done his part of the plan when Sarah decided that she wanted to abort their plans. Beth's partner, Art, who had grown suspicious of her, then takes Beth's money to hold against her until she is reinstated. Planning to hang around only until she gets Beth's money back, Sarah, after several mysterious calls and messages, encounters her second clone: Katja Obinger, a sick German woman who looks exactly like her, only with short, red hair. Katja eventually realizes that she was not Beth, and is shot in the head a matter of seconds after asking Sarah what seemed like a riddle exchanged between the clones. Frantic, Sarah finally takes the call from Beth's phone. The person on the other line advises Sarah to get rid of the body and take her briefcase for the samples they need that the German had promised them. Sarah then dumps her body one night, not realizing that her dumpsite was in fact an active quarry. Sarah finally learns of the other clones and meets Alison Hendrix and Cosima, her soccer mom and biology geek look-alikes in the process. They also meet Helena, a killer clone who thinks that she is the original and claims that she and Sarah have a connection. The cops then continue investigating the body they found at the quarry, Katja, and the clue-leaving suspect, Helena. Cosima asks Sarah to continue playing Beth for a while, so Sarah goes lengths to cover up the clones' identities, particularly since the prints that the cops retrieved from Katja's body would match Sarah's, who has a record for assault and petty theft. Aside from her "clone club" problems, Sarah is also having problems at home. Not only is she pressured by Mrs. S into getting her life straight in exchange for a few visits with Kira, but Sarah is constantly bothered by Beth's boyfriend, Paul, and is even tempted to keep him around. Personality Sarah is a natural chameleon, a born outsider living on the fringes by her wits. According to Cosima, she possess a sense of humor that her clone, Beth, did not. Despite having a morally ambiguous compass, Sarah tries her best to set things right for the sake of closing the door on her past, having a sufficient amount of money, skipping town with Felix and ultimately, to reunite with her beloved but estranged daughter, Kira. Relationships Romance Paul Paul was Beth's monitor, whom Sarah met as Beth's boyfriend when she took over her identity. Initially, Sarah did not think much of Paul; eventually though, Sarah falls into bed with him against her better judgment. A decent guy with chiseled features, Sarah had never been involved with a supportive and solid man like Paul before taking on Beth's identity. Despite the fact that she had been deceiving him, she takes solace in Paul. Eventually, Paul falls for Sarah. When he finally realizes that Sarah is not Beth, Paul chooses not to tell his superior, Olivier, about her, and instead confronts her about it. The pair eventually grow to trust each other and develop a real relationship this time. Vic Friendship Family Helena Helena is the genetic sister of Sarah, as revealed in the latest episode. They were separated at birth as Helena was given to a church, while Sarah was given to Ms.S. Felix Felix is Sarah's foster brother Mrs. S Mrs. S is Sarah's foster mother who help raise Sarah and Felix when they were children, also helps raise Sarah's daughter Kira. Kira Kira is Sarah's young daughter who can tell the difference between her mother and her clones, but feels a connection between her mother's genetic twin sister Helena. Trivia *The actress, Tatiana Maslany, who plays the clones, uses music to differentiate the clones. Her playlist for Sarah is music by "The Clash", the band whose shirt Sarah wears in Natural Selection.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxck3QtEIc4 *Sarah is one of, so far, three clones who has imitated one or more of her counterparts. She masquerades as the suicidal Beth for much of the first half of the season, breifly imitates the murdered Katja Obinger in order to access the briefcase Cosima had asked her to retreive, and poses as Allison during the near disastrous community potluck hosted at Alison's home. References Category:Characters Sarah Category:Female Characters Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Clones